Ship Damage To Hit $100,000

February 22, 1985|By Julie Eagle, Staff Writer

PALM BEACH — As salvors continued Thursday trying to dislodge the freighter grounded on Mollie Wilmot`s back yard for 91 days, an architect said repairing Wilmot`s sea wall and pool will cost her nearly $100,000.

The abandoned Mercedes I, which devastated the sea wall after a Thanksgiving storm, moved about a foot in the morning and some 14 inches at night. But it remains stuck on a rocky reef, thwarting efforts to finish the job.

Palm Beach architect Bennet Ames, who reminisced that 21 years ago his firm installed Wilmot`s now-demolished sea wall and the gargantuan pool, said a plan to rebuild the sea wall and make the pool usable again was being refined.

``(Repairs) shouldn`t take more than three weeks,`` said Ames, adding the work will probably begin when the boat is gone.

``We could go out to work right now,`` he said, looking at the wide patch of sand between the sea wall and the freighter, which salvors have moved about 200 feet perpendicular to the wall since Jan. 12.

``But if another storm comes and pushes the ship back against the wall, we have a problem,`` he said.

Murphy Construction Co. of West Palm Beach was awarded the bid, he said, which was decided by Gee & Jenson, Engineers, Planners and Architects, Inc., also of West Palm Beach.

The job will cost between $95,000 and $100,000, said Ames, whose own firm, Bennet Ames & Associates A1A Architects, will be on hand to ``see that everything settles back in place.``

Architects and engineers were among dozens of people who milled about behind the Wilmot mansion throughout the day, including the socialite`s friends, Donjon Marine Co. of New Jersey and the usual pack of journalists.

Meanwhile, Wilmot, who will have to pay for repairs, was excited about Thursday night`s rough seas, which salvors have been hoping for in their effort to pull the ship over the reef.

``I have to go to a party now and I`m dying,`` said Wilmot, who was dressed in black and diamonds as she left for a dinner engagement. ``I told Carol (her maid) to call me immediately if anything drastic happens.

``I`ve lived with this thing so long, I don`t want to miss it when it finally goes.``

But the rocky reef continued to obstruct attempts to float the vessel once and for all.

``If it was sand, we`d be out of here by now,`` said Jerry Carsillo, uncle of Donjon president John Arnold Witte Jr. ``It`s just a piece of bad luck.``

Donjon was awarded a $223,696 contract in December by the state Department of Natural Resources. The firm has missed two deadlines -- blaming a lack of helpful weather conditions and the reef -- and since Feb. 16 has been paying a $250-a-day fine.